Acacia from the Greek 'akakia' and derived from 'ake' or 'akis' meaning a sharp point or thorn and 'akazo' meaning to sharpen. Dioscorides, the Greek physician and botanist used the word in the 1st century AD for the Egyptian thorn tree, Acacia arabica. Pinguifolia from the Latin 'pinguis' meaning fat and 'folium'meaning a leaf; referring to the round fat phyllodes of the species.

Distribution:

Endemic to South Australia and restricted to southern Eyre Peninsula with a small occurrence in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges near Finniss, growing with Eucalyptus odorata, E. incrassata and Melaleuca uncinata in woodland or open scrub, in mainly sandy or hard alkaline yellow duplex soils.

Status:

Native. Very rare in South Australia.

Plant description:

Densely spreading shrub to 2 m high and 3 m wide with long round fleshy leaves. Flowers are contained within a single globular yellow ball on a long stalk, appearing in winter and spring.

Fruit type:

Long curved pods, twisted to 7 cm long, when fully matured and dried.

Seed type:

Semi-flat ovoid dark brown to black seeds to 5 mm long and 3 mm wide.

Embryo type:

Investing.

Seed collecting:

Collect mature pods when turning brown, with dark brown hard seeds. The pods may still be closed.

Seed cleaning:

Place the pods in a tray and leave to dry for 1-2 weeks. Then rub the pods with a rubber bung or by hand to dislodge the seeds from the pods. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place.

Seed viability:

From seven collections, the seed viability was high, ranging from 80% to 100%.

Seed germination:

This species has physical dormancy that needs to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking or softening the seed coat).

Seeds stored:

Location

No. of seeds(weight grams)

Numberof plants

Datecollected

Collection numberCollection location

Datestored

% Viability

Storagetemperature

BGA MSB

12500 (125.6 g)13150 (131.5 g)

60-70

7-Dec-2004

DJD 71Eyre Peninsula

31-Mar-2006

100%

-18°C

BGA

7420 (72.28 g)

5

16-Nov-2005

PJA117Southern Lofty

1-Aug-2006

90%

-18°C

BGA

390 (3.85 g)

16-Dec-2005

PJA116Southern Lofty

1-Aug-2006

85%

-18°C

BGA

130

DJD 71

14-Aug-2006

-18°C

BGA

970 (9.4 g)

12

22-Dec-2006

Brimarvi RoadSouthern Lofty

1-Aug-2007

90%

-18°C

BGA

2020 (19.68 g)

6

8-Dec-2006

CSO8Southern Lofty

19-Sep-2008

90%

-18°C

BGA

1730 (16.31 g)

5

8-Dec-2006

CSO7Southern Lofty

19-Sep-2008

80%

-18°C

BGA

240 (2.94 g)

3

8-Dec-2006

CSO6Southern Lofty

19-Sep-2008

no test

BGA

6800 (58.23 g)

12

12-Dec-2008

DJD1452Eyre Peninsula

20-Jul-2009

100%

-18°C

Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.